McSalsa Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 WARNING: TRIP REPORT HUGE!!! What da? It is time for ANOTHER trip report already? Well, having a season pass has its perks. The group I was with was mostly the same as the previous TR, but minus a few people. OK, now for the ride rating system... 10: Amazing 9: Excellent 8: Very Good 7: Good 6: OK5: Meh 4: Bad 3: Very Bad 2: Terrible 1: Garbage 0: Garbage's Garbage from the Land of Space Poo! Ready? To quote Mario...Here We Go! We left for the park around 8:00, but due to needing to stop for bathroom breaks and all that, we didn't reach the park until around 10:00 and thus missed ERT. D'oh! But would we need it? Our group split- a few of us wanted to go ride Diamondback, but we heaed for a ride which I promised my sister we'd ride while in line for Beast @ Night (we skipped it in favor of Beast) on the last trip... RIDE #1: Flight of Fear (x2) Wait: 5 Minutes 1st Ride (Needed to cycle 1 train), 10 Minutes 2nd rideHehehe, after waiting 90+ minutes for this once it is sure is fun to just hop on with a minimal wait. The ride itself is quite turbulent- after reading some discussion about violent vs. rough and then riding this, I realized FOF actually is not so rough but is in fact the former- a very violent, aggressive ride that WILL throw you around. There were some rough spots though, but nothing too drastic. Very forceful as usual, too. A solid ride. We headed outside and found Firehawk broken, so instead of riding that, we decided to head back and ride FOF again since the line was short. We rode in another train, which was actually smoother but we also rode much closer to the back and thus it was even more violent than before! A very fun ride both times. Score: 9/10 After FOF, we found Firehawk was running but the group was wanting to "meet up with us" at... RIDE #2: Banshee Wait: >5 Minutes!!!From 4 1/2 Hours to just 2 trains...wow. What a reduction in wait time your choice of day can make! This time we sat in the middle, since my sister's friend can only ride the ride there, and to be honest the view was not too obstructed- good job on the train designs in this regard, B&M. During the ride, I forgot the loop around the lift even existed, so boy was I caught off guard for a second..."OK, here comes the Zero G...WAIT WHAT DA!?!?" Thankfully, I didn't forget any of the rest of the ride! As for the ride itself...mostly the same as before. Restraints were a bit tight on my shoulders but didn't tighten, very forceful, and very fast-paced. However it was a bit rougher, it seemed, as there was a vibration from the seat but it was still smoother than Flight of Fear. Banshee was worth a 4 1/2 hour wait the first time and thus it was easily worth a 2-train wait. Score: 10/10! With the group re-united, we headed from Banshee to a nearby coaster I have ridden before, but not under its current name/theme... RIDE #3: The Bat (formerly Flight Deck)Wait: Walk-On...unless you count the q-line, then it's 5 minutes. Well, consider me a teeny bit disappointed. The re-theme of Flight Deck is just a new paint job and a re-name, and while it looks great now, I can still clearly see TOP GUN/Flight Deck's old aircraft theme under the new paintjob. As for the ride itself? Same-Old, Same-Old...Fun, Furious, Fast...but a bit too short. Score: 8/10 Our journey through Action Zone continued, as after heading back up Bat's ramp (on the way, I turned and "looked up"...and saw clear sky where previously a mountain O' wood stood), we headed back to the AZ Midway and towards a ride my sister seemed to be leading us to...which was something I have not ridden since 2010... RIDE #4: Invertigo Wait: >5 Minutes (1 Cycle)When Invertigo has a short line, you KNOW the park is dead! This was my first ride on the coaster since its repaint in 2012, and to be honest, I recall my 2010 ride being better. This one was forceful and fast, but also head-bangy rough! Ow! It gave me a headache too. Thankfully, we had painkillers that nerfed it quickly and it was no longer a problem for most of the day. A decent ride in spite of this, but...I can't give more than a 7 here. Score: 7/10 After Invertigo, we hit up Chicken Shack (again- we had done it on opening day as well) and split up a plate O' Chicken yet again. As it was last time, it was delicious, but I took care not to eat too much- I still wanted to do rides. So did 2 of my sister's friends...and they had their eyes on a big spinny frisbee ride nearby... RIDE #5: Delirium Wait: >5 Minutes (1 Cycle)While in line, I saw some dudes using Fast Lane. A waste of money, as they rode Delirium on the same cycle we did, and we were in the regular line. The ride itself, which I last rode in 2011, is still good, airtime-and-speed filled swinging fun. But it's better than ever now, since you can "kick" Banshee now! The only drawback? Ride Cycle could be a BIT longer...the fun ends too soon. Score: 9/10 After Delirium, the group expected to hit Adventure Express next, but after some discussion we ended up cutting across the park...and first up, my sister wanted to ride... RIDE #6: Boo Blasters on Boo Hill Wait: Walk-On The Q-Line is so dark...I could barely see anything. The effects seemed to be (mostly) working, save the chase scene which was broken down and the epic "ghost face wall" ending from before is gone. All 3 of our guns worked, which is a plus. Another plus is I actually won with a score of 660! Not terrible. As for the ride, same thing, but I would not be against a new dark ride replacing it, or at least fixing the broken stuff. Score: 7/10 After BBoBH, we headed for a much larger ride I was easily more excited to ride- but also a little curious, as I heard it has had a recent change since my last visit. That ride is... RIDE #7: Diamondback Wait: >5 Minutes Yeah, the lines were very short all day, as you can see by now! The trains did stack a few times, but it was kinda 50-50'ish- sometimes the crew did perfect, other times not so much, but it was never horrible. As for the seat belts? These things are supposed to save me HOW should the main restraint fail!?!? Seriously, it was so loose on me it may not as well have even been there! I assume these were added just to appease lawyers. However, the plus to this is that since the seat belts are fairly loose, they don't affect the ride at all. In fact, I was riding near the back with my sister and got killer airtime- it started off as floater, but turned into ejector as the ride dropped down nearly every hill, and there were surprise moments where there was airtime and I didn't expect it, and it was nearly always fairly strong...as for "The Rattle"? On this ride, I felt it it at the bottom of the first drop and that was it. Smooth the rest of the ride. Score: 10/10! After the awesome ride on Diamondback, we decided to head for a KI Classic that was for some reason closed on opening day... RIDE #8: The Kings Island & Miami Valley RailroadWait: 5 Minutes (for train to show up) Well, it may lack all the animatronics and stuff it once had, but the conductor on the train was very fun to ride with as he gave facts about the park and other rides, and did point out the various "cool" things that the train still goes by...all while very fitting western music plays. Also, apparently a celebrity of sorts has checked into the Inn...a very fun ride, but I also saw more potential- add some more stuff back there like the train had in its young years, and you're golden. Score: 8/10 After the train, it was off to ride my favorite coaster at Kings Island... RIDE #9: The Beast Wait: 5 Minutes (for front row!) Well, I don't know what it was, but this Beast ride, while still very fun...felt a wee bit disappointing. After the amazing rides Banshee and Diamondback gave earlier, and the downright epic night ride on opening day 2014, I guess I was hoping for more from Beast. The ride started out great as usual- awesome first drop and second turn, then the smaller drop into the ravine. The section where the ride "flopped" was after the brake shed- it felt a wee bit sluggish compared to my last few rides. Thankfully, after the tunnel, the next few turns got the ride back on track with some solid laterals and the helix, of course, was epic. And the ride was pretty smooth for a wooden coaster throughout. Even a "bad" Beast ride is still awesome, though. Score: 9.5/10 After Beast, our journey continued around the park. Up next was a tiny little coaster that I had ridden on opening day... RIDE #10: Backlot Stunt Coaster Wait: Walk-On Odd but true- BLSC was ROUGHER than Beast. Weird. The ride was as I remembered otherwise- packing a punch in spite of being small with great g-forces, and some pops of airtime. The Fire Effect wasn't working this time, though. Still, it didn't need it too much- a good fun ride on a small coaster that my sister's friend's dad called a "Mini Maverick". I can kinda-sorta see that, I guess... Score: 8/10 Our counter-clockwise journey that began with Diamondback continued, leading us to an old coaster that has thrilled KI Fans since 1987... RIDE #11: Vortex Wait: Walk-On There were like, 5 riders on our entire train. Talk about empty trains, eh? I rode in 5-1 again, and got some solid air on the first drop. Vortex is quite rough, though due to my build and the way the OTSR's are, I didn't bother me much at all since I cannot get head-banged by it (and I still feel Invertigo was worse). The loops and corkscrews were fun and forceful, and the ride was pretty good. However, there is one problem for Vortex: Banshee's debut has kind of made Vortex a bit weaker in my eyes, as it does many of the things Vortex does (strong forces, numerous inversions) and does them with an inverted element and with much smoother transitions. However, Vortex is still a very good ride and I do hope the park does keep it. Lapbars, if possible, though would be a HUGE help... Score: 8/10 After Vortex, we took a short break in Coney Mall. Afterwards, we hit up the park's classic wooden coaster. RIDE #12: Red Racer (Blue Racer was SBNO)Wait: 10 Minutes (crew was super-slow in sending out trains at times, WTF?!?!) Yikes- what a difference weather conditions and 2 years can have on a woodie. In 2012, I rode Red Racer from the front seat and had a blast, with plentiful airtime and smooth track. This time? Same seat- but there was much less airtime in most spots (there were still some spots where I did get some decent ejector air though) and it was MUCH rougher- though still nowhere near Vortex or Invertigo levels, but well beyond Beast. I slammed my legs into the lap bar a few times. Ouch. It wasn't too bad, but this was a far cry from Racer's best. It just was not a great day for the wooden coasters of Kings Island... Score: 7/10 After Racer, we hit up another nearby coaster in Oktoberfest... RIDE #13: Adventure Express Wait: Walk-On While the jerkyness and rough transitions hurt Vortex pretty bad, on AE, due to the decreased speeds of course, they are OK and add to the charm. This is a very fun mine train coaster, and today all the theming and effects were working. AE basically did its thing, and was its usual fun self with good forcefulness and twists and turns. (I also turned my head to check what the view to the left from the 1st lift is like now that SOB is gone- it's mostly air now. Banshee really doesn't use much of the old SOB land...) Score: 8/10 And then, after Adventure Express, we hit up the park's icon- a long overdue ride, since my last one was in 2010. RIDE #14: Eiffel Tower Wait: Walk-On The Eiffel Tower gives such great views of the entire park- and being up there clearly showed me why WindSeeker never opened. Boy was it windy! Banshee looks awesome from up here, as do many of the other rides. It was also cool to try and see how far away I could see stuff. The Eiffel Tower- yeah, it's almost always fun. Unless it's freezing cold out. Thankfully, that was not the case this time. Score: 8/10 After the Eiffel Tower, our next ride ended up being a re-ride on Diamondback. RE-RIDE: Diamondback #2 Wait: Walk-OnRode from 1-2 (First Car, 2nd Row) this time. Was expecting a good drop in the amount of airtime, due to being in front, and while it was a drop-off it was not a big one at all- I still got a LOT of air. Also, this time the ride was very smooth from start to finish- no "Rattle" at all. Heh, Diamondback was just awesome today. Score: 10/10 again! And we followed that up with a ride on a much wetter ride... RIDE #15: White Water Canyon (x2) Wait: 5 Minutes due to path, otherwise walk-on White Water Canyon- the wooded setting alone makes this ride awesome IMO. Then you have the pure fun of spinning and wondering "Who will get soaked the worst?" Well, that's hard to answer- because during our 2 rides (we got off and back in line) we got DRENCHED. In part due to the water cannons, because Friend's Dad was using them on us!Score: 8/10 After this, my sister took me and her friend through... RIDE #16: Snoopy's Splash DanceWait: None I am not sure how to rate this- basically, it gets you wet with hoses and nozzles. It really is more aimed for kids, but it does drench you...ehh, I'll give it a 7 since it was kinda fun. Score: 7/10 And then we hit our last ride of the day, another water ride...and a Kings Island staple from 1972... RIDE #17: Race for Your Life, Charlie BrownWait: Walk-On The name for this ride makes so much sense now- this ride was easily the scariest of the day. No lap bars, OTSRs, none of that to keep you in. Nor even a seatbelt. Just a metal bar on the side of the log...hang on. And our log rocked and shook A LOT during the ride down the canal...then came the final drop. Is this the Log Flume, or did Pilgrims' Plunge/Giraffica somehow come to Kings Island, because the wave was much bigger than expected...yeah, as far as "scare factor" goes, this made me quite the nervous wreck while riding it. It was fun though...I wonder if maybe we were too heavy or something. Ride alone next time, perhaps? Score: 7/10 After hitting RFYLCB, we did some shopping in the park (I got some nice Postcards) and then we headed to the car. It was only 6:30'ish...wow, never thought we'd be done with Kings Island so quickly. Yeah, we didn't ride Firehawk (couldn't get enough people to want to do it) and Drop Tower & WindSeeker were closed all day (DT due to needing parts apparently, and WindSeeker due to...Wind...) but other than that, what an awesome day at Kings Island. Totally makes up for only getting in 3 rides on Opening Day. Grand ride totals... RIDE TOTALS FOR TRIP Flight of Fear x2 Diamondback x2 White Water Canyon x2 Beast x1 Banshee x1 Vortex x1 The Bat x1 Adventure Express x1 Backlot Stunt Coaster x1 Invertigo x1 Red Racer x1 Delirium x1Eiffel Tower x1 Boo Blasters x1 KI & MV RR x1 RFYL CB x1 Snoopy's Splash Dance x1 Total: 20 Rides 20 Rides in 1 Day...could have likely done much more had we had a smaller group, but it was still awesome. Now for the good and bad of the trip... PROS+NO LINES!!! +The B&M's were running amazingly well +Food was delicious- hiring a head chef seems like it was a good call thus far +Park was pretty clean and tidy +Staff was friendly and- mostly- efficent CONS -Wooden Coasters weren't running 100%, however -Racer crew was VERY slow at times Overall, this was a very good visit to Kings Island. I am SO looking forward to more visits like this in the future. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this trip report. Comments/Questions are welcome. See you! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Great report! The problem with WindSeeker is that it's very good at seeking wind, but it doesn't know what to do with the wind when it finds it. And weight, both total and the distribution thereof, plays a large role in determining the size of the splash on the log flume. Heavier boats will get larger splashes, as will boats where the majority of the weight is in the front. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSalsa Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Great report! The problem with WindSeeker is that it's very good at seeking wind, but it doesn't know what to do with the wind when it finds it. And weight, both total and the distribution thereof, plays a large role in determining the size of the splash on the log flume. Heavier boats will get larger splashes, as will boats where the majority of the weight is in the front. Thanks. As for how our boat was set up, we had 3 people riding it- Me (I'm around 200lbs), my sister (around 130lbs or so), and her friend (she's large- around 200lbs as well). We had my sister in front, and we were in the back... Then again, when I rode Holiday World's Log Flume (Frightful Falls) the boat had 3 people who were at or around 200lbs or more, plus a 5-year-old, and it didn't feel crazy out-of-control like Kings Island's did. So I guess KI's Log Flume is more "Frightful" in general than Frightful falls... (And to be honest, since next time I'll be expecting and ready for it, KI's did seem to have a better layout than Frightful Falls did and is probably the superior log flume...) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSalsa Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 OK- my sister's friend took these pictures from the Eiffel Tower, and I got permission from her on the way home to share them. So here are some cool pictures from my trip for you guys: The Royal Fountains. Always so purdy. Coney Mall as seen from the Eiffel Tower. Racer was rough but kinda fun, Vortex was rough but fun, BLSC was fun, and WindSeeker just stood there doing nothing all day. Here is the other side of Coney Mall, which still has Racer in it, but also Flight of Fear (very fun but also very violent- beware!), Firehawk (didn't ride), and Adventure Express (fun as usual with all of its stuff working- yay!). Here is a great photo for this year- the newly revamped for 2014 Action Zone! Plus Viking Fury at da bottom. Banshee was epic, and The Bat and Delirium were very fun too. Too bad Drop Tower is still broken, though. And here is a somewhat different angle of AZ, with a better view of Invertigo, aka "The Blender". It was still kinda fun though. Planet Snoopy. You'd think that since it's a kid's area, it's all fun and games. YOU ARE WRONG, for this area contains the scariest ride I have been on in the entire park...a Log Flume!!! (DA DA DUM!!!) Here is Rivertown- possibly the most "fun" section of entire park in spite of only having 4 rides, but they are all really good rides. Especially the 2 roller coasters- an airtime filled B&M Hyper and the legendary wooden coaster Beast. WWC and the KI&MV RR are also great. EPIC Diamondback TILT POSE!!! And also look there, it's...AAAAAAHHH STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU CRAZY LOG FLUME!!! Here is one more pic of Banshee...Hmm, I can't help but shake the feeling that just a few years ago, something BIG would have been the center focus of this shot, hence the bald spots in the grass in the background... And now the only non-Eiffel-Tower pic she took... Words cannot describe the awesomeness of this image. Well, hope you enjoyed these photos from the trip! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing those pictures. It has taken me way less time than I thought it would to get used to seeing Banshee in that spot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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